A few weeks ago, I detailed a specific failure of the organized atheist/secular movement regarding cost and accessibility. This week, I am back with the second and final chapter — See? I don’t have that many complaints! — of specific areas where I have felt that the atheist and secular community have fallen short. Without further ado: Aggressively policing each other for not focusing “enough” on “atheist issues” and general hostility for those who deviate from the script. The amount… Read more
William Murray, the super-Christian son of American Atheists founder Madalyn Murray O’Hair, has an article at World Net Daily (I know, I know…) about AA’s fight against the World Trade Center Museum’s 9/11 Cross. And, just as you would expect, it’s evident that Murray has no knowledge of the Constitution. He’s just mad that anyone would be upset about a cross — to him, it’s just anti-Christian bigotry, which couldn’t be further from the truth. Never deterred by logic or… Read more
Lately, we’ve seen a handful of complaints/lawsuits over Christian symbols appearing in city seals. Richard Wade commented on this earlier today. Here’s how it goes down: An atheist individual or group complains about it because it’s a violation of church/state separation. People get up in arms because “How dare you go after something so insignificant?” Even atheists. They want to know why we don’t choose our battles a little more wisely. They want us to stop embarrassing other atheists. I’ll… Read more
Wow, this is embarrassing. JT Eberhard brought back some very cringe worthy memories from my Christian childhood. Does anyone remember this song? Because I do. In fact, I was a big fan of it and played it over and over for a long time. I even had ideas for creating my own video to go along with it. (Yes, I was that awkward as a kid.) I almost don’t want you to watch it. Just take my word on how… Read more
Wesley Holland grew up in a Mormon family (he left the faith when he was 17) and he’s bothered by how much misinformation about Mormonism is floating around now that Mitt Romney is running for president: Since Mitt Romney became the Republican presidential hopeful, I’ve seen a lot of confusion in the media, online, and at the water cooler about what Mormons really believe. People of most faiths and non-faiths have been wondering if they should be concerned about the… Read more
Yesterday, Hemant posted a story about how Joe Zamecki was fighting against the city seal of Austin, Texas — which features a cross on it: Some of the commenters — both Christians and atheists — don’t seem to think this is a big deal. Some of the Christians say this isn’t government endorsement of religion, it’s just a part of the city’s history. Some atheists have commented that this is not a battle worth fighting and that Joe Zamecki should… Read more
A few days ago, Jason Torpy wrote about a “strength of character” survey for the incoming class at the United States Military Academy. In attempting to determine the “personal strengths” of the cadets, West Point asked them to respond to statements as being on a scale from “like them” to “unlike them.” Most of the survey was what you’d expect — about creativity and resourcefulness and other important characteristics of leaders. Four of the questions, however, were about the depth… Read more
The folks at Ask An Atheist have put together a list of statements they’d like to see politicians comment on so that we can make a more informed decision on whom to vote for. While some of the statements are silly, many of them warrant a simple Agree/Disagree answer: The planet Earth is closer to 4.7 billion years than it is to 6,000 years old. .. I believe that the United States of America is not officially a Christian nation…. Read more
In 2010, Tyler Clementi, a gay college student, committed suicide after his roommate (and another student) secretly videotaped him hooking up with another guy. Weeks later, the Illinois Family Institute — in all their Christian love — tried to pin the blame on everything they could think of revolving around his sexuality: Perhaps if Tyler had not been taught the bleakly deterministic view that he was “born” homosexual, he would have had more hope for the future and would have… Read more
